Beauty And The Beast
by XDracoMalfoysGirlX
Summary: A classic Disney movie helps Willow realise how she feels about Spike.


Beauty and the Beast

The sound of Buffy's fist colliding with the leather punch bag in the back room of The Magic Box where Giles had set up a training room for her was starting to grate on Willow's nerves. Buffy was working hard out there and every now and then she could hear Giles voice, although she couldn't make out the words. Generally she didn't care one way or the other if Buffy was training, but today she had a mild head ache brought on, Willow knew, from lack of sleep.

Sleep had been a long time coming to her last night and she had been feeling rather blue lately, for reasons she couldn't quite put her finger on, and so she had gone home to her childhood home and curled up on the sofa with her duvet to watch movies.

One movie had led to another and still sleep eluded her and eventually she had put on Beauty and the Beast. She had always liked that story, maybe it was because she recognized the need for acceptance in the Beast that she had within herself, Willow didn't really know, but she liked the story in any event.

As wrapped up and engrossed in the story as she had been, it hadn't been enough to stop realization crashing down on her like a ton of bricks and suddenly Willow knew why she hadn't quite been herself lately. It all came down to….

"Hi Spike," Anya said, glancing up from the books she was busy balancing. She gave him a brief smile and returned to the more interesting matter of money.

Willow swore she felt her heart flutter; it definitely did something out of the ordinary. Her breath had also done something out of the ordinary the previous night just as Belle had led the Beast into the ballroom and Angela Lansbury had started to sing.

_Tale as old as time_

_True as it can be_

It was a tale as old as time, it was as true as it could be; love was like that, wasn't it. Love was the truest form of emotion that a person was capable of feeling. Love outranked everything that was just the way it was.

_Barely even friends_

Oh yes, that definitely fit for her relationship with Spike considering he had kidnapped her and threatened to shove a broken bottle in her face and a year later tried to kill her in her own bed. Evil vampire, friend of the slayer; it was not a recipe for friendship not by a long shot.

_Then somebody bends_

Her of course, she was the more flexible of the two of them. Willow's mind wandered a moment wondering if that was true as he crossed the room to the table where she sat. Spike was such a fluid mover, all suppressed danger and coiled tension; Willow couldn't help wondering how flexible he really could be and a blush stained her cheeks at the very thought.

_Unexpectedly_

It had been unexpected, to walk into Xander's basement and see Spike about to stake himself, or at least attempt to stake himself. She had felt an unmistakable rush of utter horror, her heart slamming into her breast bone as for one sickening moment she thought she was going to have to watch him disappear into a cloud of dust.

Really, her relationship with Spike boiled down to the unexpected. When he had kidnapped her he had been so heartbroken over Drusilla that she had wanted to help him; unexpected. When he had turned up in her dorm room and tried to bite her only to discover he couldn't he had been so devastated and bewildered that in spite of everything her heart went out to him; unexpected.

Due to the chip he had become part of their little group in his own way. Buffy, Xander, Giles and even Spike would deny it to the last, but Willow knew it to be true. She knew they relied on him in a way the others didn't really want to think about just as she knew Spike sought them out even if it was just to pick a fight because he didn't have anyone else. That always made her sad and she tried extra hard to be extra nice to him; unexpected.

Her heart, always one step ahead of her brain even when she didn't realise it, did that strange fluttering thing whenever he was near; unexpected.

She knew now how she felt about the evil neutered vampire who had tired to kill her; unexpected.

And in it's own way; absolutely terrifying.

_Just a little change  
Small, to say the least_

It had been little changes that had led her to this moment, each so small in its own way that Willow felt she could be forgiven for not seeing the bigger picture straight away. She had offered him the hand of friendship, tried to include him in everything, ask him about his day, make him a mug of blood; anything really to talk to him, to be near him.

"Red," he greeted, flopping into a chair beside her.

"Hello, Spike." Willow groaned inwardly, she sounded breathless and she could tell Spike thought so too by the slight lift of his eyebrow. Oh how she loved it when he did that!

_Both a little scared_

Spike would rather die all over again that admit it, but Willow felt he had been just as scared as her the first time she had spoken to him to receive a civil reply. How could it not be scary and awkward and confusing, they were sworn enemies and yet they were having a civil and intelligent conversation.

They had crossed the line that night, they were no longer enemies; not quite friends yet but getting there; maybe. It was different, it was new, it was without a doubt, scary.

_Neither one prepared_

How could either of them have been prepared, they hadn't seen it coming; none of them. Spike fighting along side them, fighting with them, helping to keep Sunnydale safe and save the world. It was Spike, William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers, a quarter of the Scourge of Europe and he was suddenly fighting with the good guys instead of against them. There hadn't been a way to prepare for that; but Willow was glad of it if it kept Spike around.

_Beauty and the Beast_

A small smile tugged at her lips.

"Anything going on tonight?" Spike asked as he fished out a cigarette.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," she replied tucking her hair behind her ear to allow her view of him to go unobstructed. He was just so lovely to look at.

_Ever just the same_

Spike didn't change, not very much. He still wore head to toe black that made something in her belly loosen at the very sight of him. She rather preferred him this way than with the red shirt. Black just seemed to suit him much more; dark, deadly, dangerous, it made her shiver in all the right ways.

So he couldn't bite right now and he couldn't hurt humans, but Spike still fought with other demons wherever he went his perchance for violence was still there, he was still strong, formidable, treacherous.

He still had a way with words too. Spike could always find just the right thing to say to slice a person to the quick, his words sharper that the sharpest blade. Cold, callous, cruel; the evil in Spike was still there, he could still exploit a weakness and drive it home to hurt, to wound, to destroy.

_Ever a surprise_

Spike had always been different to the other vampires she had come across, even Angel with his soul. Spike had the capacity to care and care deeply, to love and love absolutely. Those feelings were not for Drusilla alone as Willow had once thought; Spike cared about Dawn, he looked after her and helped to keep her safe.

Spike was very smart, more so than she had given him credit for and Willow felt bad about that. It was a surprise though considering how his evil plans never worked out. Now that she knew him better Willow knew it was because Spike was impatient for his reward and pushed things before they were fully ready to come to fruition on their own.

"Where's bit tonight?"

Willow smiled slightly. "She's gone on a pizza run with Xander."

_Ever as before_

The one thing Spike wanted more than anything was to get rid of the chip and he would, Willow had no doubt about that. A vampire as resourceful as Spike would find a way around the problem sooner or later and return to the vampire he had once been.

The door to the training room opened and Buffy appeared slightly red in the face and beads of perspiration standing out along her hair line. "We ready for patrol?"

"Xander's not here," Anya said without looking up from her calculations.

Buffy huffed and frowned.

"Pizza run," Willow explained.

Buffy huffed again and a hand went to her stomach at the thought of food. "Well I'm not waiting for him, we'll go alone, ok, Wills?"

"Fine," Willow agreed getting to her feet.

Spike rose too, as smooth and fluid as water and Willow's heart did that weird flutter again.

"Does he have to come?" Buffy whined.

"You need all the help you can get, slayer."

"Not your help," Buffy snapped.

"Well," Spike said thoughtfully. "If you didn't base your relationship on secrets and lies perhaps you could ask farm boy for help."

"Shut it, Spike!" Buffy glared balefully at him before stomping to the door. "I'll go alone, Will's, you have him."

"Fine," she said again and gave Spike a smile. Buffy was touchy about her relationship with Riley. It was still a relatively new venture and Willow knew that Buffy couldn't help but compare Riley to Angel; Buffy would always compare any boy she met to Angel and they would all come up wanting. There would only ever really be Angel for Buffy; no-one else would ever come close.

What would it be like to love like that?

Spike grinned back and followed Buffy out the door. "What's got your knickers in a twist? Don't like the truth or something?"

Willow sighed and trailed after them, she knew they'd bicker back and forth until they got to the cemetery and she would have to intervene and stop Buffy punching Spike in the face.

He still had a smart mouth and he was still full of wicked intentions. Willow's blush was back in full force as she wondered about those wicked intentions.

_Ever just as sure_  
_As the sun will rise_

It was ever just as sure, Willow could feel it in her bones; maybe even more so than the sun rising. There were many ways to stop the sun rising, they battled with the forces who wanted to plunge the world into darkness and despair so she knew; but love, well, love lasted beyond the grave, beyond the ages. Love went on, didn't it?

_Tale as old as time  
Tune as old as song_

"You just can't admit when I'm right, can you, slayer?" Spike taunted.

"If you don't want to end up in a vacuum cleaner I suggest you shut it!" Buffy snapped back. "And just for the record, you are never right!"

Willow sighed softly. A vampire and a slayer fighting in one form or another was indeed a tale as old as time; almost as old as the tale of unrequited love. Her spirits drooped at that thought. First Xander and now Spike, she was destined to be the woman who loved the man who wouldn't love her back; it certainly was an old tune.

_Bittersweet and strange_

Somehow though, it was ok to love Spike providing he didn't know about it. She could still treasure her little daydreams of happily ever after with the evil vampire; it was a bittersweet love and extremely strange, no doubt about that.

_Finding you can change_

Hadn't they both discovered that about themselves, that they did have the ability to change and become someone else. Spike had of course changed from human to evil vampire and had now changed again to helper of the slayer. None of the changes had been his choice but Spike had squared those broad, muscular shoulders of his and dealt with his changing circumstances always looking for a way to better them.

She had changed too, from the shy geeky student at Sunnydale high to research girl and now budding wicca. She could work some serious mojo too providing she concentrated enough.

Her changes had been good. Spike's not so much, at least not for him; humanity would probably have a different view considering he didn't have his bite anymore. Willow couldn't find it in herself to be too sorry about the changes Spike had been forced to endure. If Spike had never been turned she would never have met him. If Spike had never gotten the chip she wouldn't have him in her life right now. There was no way Willow could be sorry for Spike's presence in her life.

_Learning you were wrong_

Willow was the sort of girl who embraced all kinds of knowledge and the knowledge that she wasn't completely terrified of Spike and did in fact want to fist her hands in the lapels of his duster, haul him close and kiss him senseless was a pleasant discovery.

Oh yes, Willow was very happy to learn she was wrong where Spike was concerned.

_Certain as the sun  
Rising in the east_

She was certain as certain could be that she had never felt about Xander or Oz the way she did about Spike. There was history with her and Xander and her and Oz of course, but somehow Willow felt that her history with Spike was much more intense; having her very life in his hands probably had something to do with that.

"Anything happens to her and you won't live to see another sun set," Buffy warned Spike when they reached the cemetery gates.

"Yeah, yeah, heard it all before, slayer," Spike waved a hand dismissively.

Buffy hugged her tightly. "Be careful, and if he does anything that puts you in danger you tell me and I'll end his miserable existence."

Willow rolled her eyes. "We'll be fine, Buffy. Spike won't let anything bad happen to me." She knew that to be true but didn't delude herself into thinking it was because he felt anything remotely similar towards her that she did for him. Spike was smart, he was a survivor and if she died or got hurt on his watch they both knew that Buffy would ensure he paid for it and paid with his life.

Buffy nodded, gave Spike one final glare and turned away from them heading left.

"Ready, Red?"

Willow smiled, she liked the little nickname he had given her. She liked the way he said it, liked how his voice rolled off his tongue in such a delightfully sinful way. "Yes, let's go, Spike."

He gestured to the right and as soon as his eyes touched her face Willow felt a fire race over her skin. She swallowed uncomfortably and turned away from him as her cheeks heated up. It would never do for Spike to start questioning her, Willow was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to lie convincingly to him.

There wasn't much in life a person could count on, but the sun rising in the east was one of them and when your heart did strange fluttering and pitter patters and your stomach flipped at the mere sight of someone, it was pretty much a certainty that love was a part of it.

_Tale as old as time  
Song as old as rhyme_

Everyone had a story and every story was a take on one that had come before it. The star crossed love of Buffy and Angel, already seen in Romeo and Juliet. Herself and Xander, feelings for a friend and falling into the trap of mistaking what you thought it would be like with reality, already seen with Scarlett O'Hara and Ashley Wilkes. Cordy and Xander, letting the pride and prejudice that came with high school popularity stop you being with the one you wanted to be with and then triumphing over it, already seen with Sandy and Danny in Grease.

Love really was the one thing that lasted through time.

Her story was hardly original, the good girl falling for the bad boy; but darn it how could anyone not fall for Spike?

He was sensitive and could be very thoughtful, although he hated to show it. He was strong but he also had a vulnerability to him that endured him to her even more. He was funny and smart and his eyes were so blue and his cheek bones out of this world and his body would make a Greek God envious. Spike was undeniably a beautiful specimen. He was also cold and vicious, cruel and terrifying when his beauty melted away and he brought out the true face of his demon with ridges and sharp fangs and chilling amber eyes.

Spike was unique as both a man and a demon.

"You're quiet over there, Red," Spike said his brow ruffling in a small frown. It wasn't like Willow to be overly quiet, she was generally babbling nine to the dozen about one thing or another.

"Oh," Willow rolled her shoulders. "Just thinking."

He looked curious. "About what?"

Her lips curled into a secret smile and she shook her head in response. There was no way she was going to admit to Spike that she had been thinking how he was both

_Beauty and the beast_


End file.
